Kronic the Wedgehog
Kronic the Wedgehog (often nicknamed Kronic) was a series of robots that competed in Series 4-7 of Robot Wars. The original version reached the Heat Final in its debut appearance in Series 4 after helping to knock out the seeded Gravedigger, but its successors lost in the first round in Series 5 and the second in Series 6 and 7. However, Kronic 2 was notable for flipping former series champion Panic Attack over in its first round battle during Series 6 to be the last robot standing. Series 8 champion Apollo is modelled upon the most recent version of Kronic the Wedgehog, and was built by Kronic's current owners, Team MAD. Versions of Kronic the Wedgehog All versions of Kronic the Wedgehog shared the same colour scheme of blue, red and yellow, with yellow top-mounted spikes and an angry face printed on the front lifter/flipper, known as the 'Kronic face'. Kronic the Wedgehog (Series 4) The original version of Kronic the Wedgehog was built in a greenhouse, a fact reflected in the team covering the top spikes with flowerpots in the pits. It was a tall box-wedge shaped robot powered by two Sinclair C5 motors giving it a top speed of 10 mph. It had motorcycle gears and was armoured in polycarbonate. The frame was reused from the original version that failed to qualify, and was made from steel and aluminium, and it had 4 industrial trolley wheels.Robot Wars: The Official Robot Guide Kronic the Wedgehog's weapons were a front lifter and a rear-mounted spike. The metal part sticking out of Kronic's face was the ram pivot. Strangely, bubble wrap was used in the robot, to cushion the two MIG welding bottles used as power for the flipper. Kronic 2 ... Yeaaahhhh!!! (Series 5) For Series 5, a new model of Kronic the Wedgehog was built, known as Kronic 2 ... Yeaaahhhh!!!, but referred to on the show simply as Kronic 2. This version was much larger and heavier than the original, with a low angled wedge-shaped chassis, and two flippers; a front flipper similar to that of Prizephita Mach 2 and the top-mounted one being a side flipper like the future weaponry of Lightning. The side flipper was slightly faster and more powerful than the front one, and was designed to act as the robot's srimech. The flippers were powered by CO2, ran at 750psi, and the team got help from George Francis of Team Chaos to help with the exhaust valves. The robot was designed on an Apple Mac using CAD software. Kronic 2 was the first to feature a set of flammable foam spikes on top of the wedge, which had red tips to give the appearance of being bloodstained. There were two static titanium spikes on the back. The robot was armoured in aluminium and steel, with the team using aluminium from a chocolate bar wrapper to protect Kronic 2's receiver. The robot had go-kart wheels, provided by their sponsors Tabor Motors, a gyroscope purchased from PipingHot Networks, and was built using machinery at Ceramtec UK and Axe Vale Engineering.Kronic 2 website Kronic 2 (Series 6) Kronic 2 was rebuilt, but it was mostly the same design in Series 6 as it had been in Series 5. It had a stronger shell, made of 50mmm extruded aluminium, but had no base panel, as the team removed it during the qualifiers due to the robot being overweight. The team also changed the pipework for the pneumatics of both flippers. This version had Bosch 24V 750W motors, and two 12V batteries for power. Kronic the Wedgehog (Series 7) For Series 7, the team reverted back to the original name for a revised version of Kronic 2. This version of Kronic the Wedgehog retained the two flippers used by Kronic 2, which were upgraded to be faster and more powerful, and maintained the decorative foam spikes. While largely similar in design to Kronic 2, the Series 7 version had no wheel guards, leaving them partially exposed from above, although Kronic the Wedgehog was now fitted with a mesh bottom to protect the internals from underneath. Etymology The name Kronic the Wedgehog was a pun based on Sonic the Hedgehog, the protagonist of SEGA's flagship video game series. This combined Sonic the Hedgehog with the word "chronic", with the derivative "Wedgehog" referring to the robot's wedge shape. Its blue, red and white paint scheme and foam spikes were also based on the character. The Series 5 version of the machine was known as Kronic 2 ... Yeaaahhhh!!! by the team, but was simply referred to as Kronic 2 on the show. The team dropped the "... Yeaaahhhh!!!" from the name for Series 6 onwards. The Team Throughout its appearances, the team consisted of Dave Lang, his son John, and Mike Gardener, who was a work colleague of John Lang. All three of them were engineers.8.32, Series 6 Heat I part 3 Dave Lang was the team captain, who drove the robots and designed the robots electronics. John Lang designed and built all the versions of Kronic the Wedgehog, whilst Mike Gardener was the pneumatic specialist and procured parts for the robots.Team Kronic website - Team Kronic Qualification Despite Kronic first appearing in Series 4, the original version of the robot (simply named Kronic) was built for Series 3, a barrel shaped robot armed with a retracting spear. However, it wasn't very well built and failed to qualify. In its Series 4 qualifier, Kronic the Wedgehog fought S.M.I.D.S.Y., and won, directly qualifying for the series, alongside S.M.I.D.S.Y. which still qualified anyway. At the Series 5 qualifiers, Kronic 2 appeared at the Cardiff leg of the tour, having had very little testing beforehand. It first fought Mini Morg. Kronic 2 won the battle and qualified for the series, yet curiously, Mini Morg was awarded the nineteenth seed. Kronic 2 also fought two battles against Panic Attack, which had already been seeded. Kronic 2 qualified for Series 6 by taking part in a qualifier battle, and Kronic the Wedgehog also qualified for Series 7, though which robots it fought in its qualifier battles, and whether or not it won the fights, is currently unknown. Robot History Series 4 Newcomers Kronic the Wedgehog met two veterans in the first round of the Fourth Wars; Thermidor 2 and the number 13 seeds Gravedigger. Before the fight, the Gravedigger team conceded that their flipper wasn't working. Thermidor 2 and Kronic the Wedgehog met in the centre of the arena and both fired their flippers simultaneously, with Kronic the Wedgehog gaining enough purchase to lift Thermidor 2 up by one of its claws. Gravedigger ran its wedge underneath Kronic the Wedgehog, but only managed to push it a little before reversing away. Kronic the Wedgehog was then able to shove Thermidor 2 towards the arena wall near Shunt's CPZ, helped by Gravedigger ramming it from behind. Thermidor 2 spun away and tried to flip Kronic the Wedgehog again, but its large claws got in the way. After a little bit of avoiding each other, Kronic the Wedgehog stopped on top of the pit of oblivion, which had dropped slightly. A combined attack from Thermidor 2 and Gravedigger moved Kronic the Wedgehog off the pit which hadn't descended any further. The robots met in the centre of the arena again and Kronic the Wedgehog was almost flipped onto its side by Thermidor 2 but survived. Kronic the Wedgehog then shoved Thermidor 2 into the arena wall again and buckled the right claw. Following this, Kronic the Wedgehog lifted the front of Gravedigger onto the arena side wall before it was flipped over by Thermidor 2. Sir Killalot moved in and picked Gravedigger up, spinning it around and throwing it across the arena, where it landed on its wheels. Gravedigger then proceeded to race towards Thermidor 2 and Kronic the Wedgehog who were still battling next to Matilda. Cease was called and the seeded Gravedigger was eliminated. In the second round, Kronic the Wedgehog fought Darke Destroyer 2, a Heat Finalist in the last war. The two robots began the battle circling each other, with Darke Destroyer 2 barging into Kronic the Wedgehog head on. Kronic the Wedgehog responded by lifting Darke Destroyer 2 up, but not over. Darke Destroyer 2 then shoved Kronic the Wedgehog across the arena floor and began to use its 'waggling blades', but they were no use. Kronic the Wedgehog eventually spun away from Darke Destroyer 2 and was able to immediately place its flipper underneath Darke Destroyer 2, toppling it over. It was unable to self-right, so the House Robots closed in for the kill, putting it on the flipper, then pitting it. Kronic the Wedgehog was through to the Heat Final, where it fought Thermidor 2 again, and Jonathan Pearce declared it the 'surprise' of the heat. Before the fight, the Thermidor 2 team were concerned that its flipper wouldn't work. Its claws had also broken, and it was being put back together just beforehand. Both robots started cautiously, ambling around each other, before Kronic the Wedgehog tried an attack with its flipper but missed. Kronic the Wedgehog fired its flipper again, with Thermidor 2 showing that their flipper was working as well by flicking Kronic the Wedgehog up. Kronic the Wedgehog then lifted Thermidor 2 up by one of its claws, before Thermidor 2 fired its weapon, which penetrated Kronic the Wedgehog's flipper, causing both robots to be momentarily locked together. Kronic lifted Thermidor up by one of its claws, but only pushed it a little before it dropped off. Kronic the Wedgehog lifted Thermidor 2 again and pushed it into Shunt's CPZ. Thermidor 2 escaped and responded by charging at Kronic the Wedgehog, which caused its flipper to come off, which meant that Kronic the Wedgehog was now weaponless and exposed. Kronic the Wedgehog managed to force Thermidor 2 around the arena for a short period, before Thermidor 2 came back onto the attack and flipped it up, but not over. Kronic the Wedgehog then seemed to lose power on one side. The House Robots closed in, with Dead Metal slicing into its side and Shunt axing down. Dead Metal then left Kronic the Wedgehog precariously balanced over the pit, before Sir Killalot nudged the beaten robot down. Series 5 Returning unseeded, Kronic 2 went up against the greatly experienced King B Powerworks in its first round eliminator battle. Kronic 2 started well, getting under and flicking King B Powerworks into the air. King B Powerworks recovered from the attack and drove up the side of Kronic 2, sitting there until Kronic 2 fired its flipper, upon which King B Powerworks drove off. King B Powerworks attempted a charge, disc first, at Kronic 2, but the flipper negated the attack and tossed King B Powerworks off to Kronic 2's right. The second charge was much more successful, as it struck Kronic 2's rear and allowed King B Powerworks to slam it into the side wall at a tremendous speed. Kronic 2 successfully retreated across the flames, but slowed down significantly, and King B Powerworks rammed it into Sgt. Bash's CPZ. King B Powerworks' spikes had pierced the side armour of Kronic 2 by now, and, after Kronic 2 trundled slowly out of Sgt. Bash's reach, King B Powerworks used the spikes to pierce and lift Kronic 2 slightly, driving it back into Sgt. Bash's CPZ. Shunt intercepted and separated the pair with its axe, but King B Powerworks nudged Kronic 2 back onto the flames. Kronic 2's spikes caught fire, and time expired on the match, which was sent to a judges' decision in order to determine the winner. The judges unanimously voted in favour of King B Powerworks, and Kronic 2 was therefore eliminated in the first round of the series. Series 6 Kronic 2 was placed up against the redesigned R.O.C.S., the eighth seeds Panic Attack and Series 5 Heat Finalist Corkscrew in its first round battle of the Heat. In this battle, Panic Attack and R.O.C.S. both moved in and attacked Kronic 2. Panic Attack lifted Kronic up, while R.O.C.S. crushed Kronic 2's top. Corkscrew then zoomed in and tore off one of Panic Attack's skirts, before slamming into Kronic 2, tearing off its wheel guard. Kronic 2's top flipper was knocked open by the impact. Kronic 2 drove away from R.O.C.S., but was driving erratically, eventually opening the pit. Corkscrew drove around Kronic 2 and hit it as it was spinning, but this caused it to bounce onto the pit as it closed, eliminating Corkscrew from the battle. R.O.C.S. buried its jaw into Kronic 2's flipper, pressing it down, but Kronic 2 managed to wriggle free and fight back, throwing R.O.C.S. onto its back. R.O.C.S.'s attempts at self-righting were in vain, especially as hydraulic fluid was leaking out from it. R.O.C.S. was counted out, putting Kronic 2 and Panic Attack safely through. Regardless, while R.O.C.S. was positioned on the floor flipper, Kronic 2 pushed Panic Attack into a CPZ at the top of the arena and flipped it over. The seeded machine could not self-right, but it was through regardless. R.O.C.S. was thrown by the flipper, then pitted by Sir Killalot with assistance from Kronic 2. In the second round, Kronic 2 went up against Terrorhurtz, from the much more experienced Team Hurtz. Despite being the only robot left standing in its first-round melee, the team had to do a lot of repairs to make on Kronic 2 because of the damage from Corkscrew, and it entered the arena still without one wheel guard. Terrorhurtz charged straight at Kronic 2, but Kronic 2 dodged. Kronic 2 tried to get under its opponent, but could not get under Terrorhurtz, and Terrorhurtz slammed its axe on it numerous times, knocking pieces of armour off and bending the wheel guard. Kronic 2 tried again to get its flipper under Terrorhurtz but couldn't due to its low ground clearance, so its flipper fired at thin air. Terrorhurtz pushed Kronic 2 against Sgt. Bash, where it became stuck on the House Robot's side, but it was knocked free by Terrorhurtz, before being chased by Terrorhurtz and pushed across the arena into an angle grinder. At this point, Terrorhurtz had lost power to its axe, but the damage it had already caused proved to be enough. Kronic 2 found itself on the flame pit where it couldn't get away and had its spikes set on fire. It was eventually pushed ff by Refbot, but it was not moving, so merely rolled away. Kronic rolled onto a steam vent, and a blast of CO2 got Kronic 2 moving again, but it was only moving on one wheel. It drove into the CPZ with Growler, firing the flipper at random. Kronic 2 attacked Growler, flipping it up onto the wedge, but couldn't get it over and Kronic 2 kept losing more bits and pieces. Kronic 2 got away from Growler, started spinning, before Terrorhurtz rammed it into the wall. Terrorhurtz opened the pit, then pushed it by the CPZ. Kronic 2 could not move away as Growler charged into it. Terrorhurtz then hit Sgt Bash and knocked his back panel off before Kronic 2 was counted out by Refbot. As cease was called, Growler shoved Kronic 2 back onto the flame pit. Series 7 Kronic the Wedgehog was placed up against Team Victor's The Kraken, and two newcomers: Pinser and Cobra, in the first round melee. Kronic the Wedgehog started quickly by getting straight under Cobra and flipping it. Pinser moved in, and as Cobra tried to spike Pinser, Kronic drove around Pinser to attack Cobra again. It tried to flip Cobra again, but its flipper was not under Cobra properly, so it only flicked it up a little. Some of Kronic's spikes fell of as it flipped. It tried another flip, but Cobra turned away, so Kronic's flipper fired at thin air. Pinser got under Kronic, so Kronic backed away, before trying to flip Pinser, and when it fired its flipper, the flipper was firing at thin air again, and Kronic landed on Pinser's wedge. Pinser tried to get in a position to crush, but Kronic reversed away. Pinser followed, and got under the front of Kronic It could not get under the low ground clearance at Pinser's front, and crushed the flipper down. Pinser pulled and pushed Kronic back and forth, pushing it onto a flame jet. The Kraken came in, separating the two. Cobra was barely moving by the side wall, so Kronic nudged it a couple of times, but did not flip it. As The Kraken pinched Cobra, Kronic tried flipping it, but only knocked it up a little. Pinser then attacked the limping Cobra machine, crushing it and pulling it over a flame jet, but Pinser burnt out as it drove over the flame jet, effectively immobilising both robots as Cobra was still caught in Pinser's grip. Both robots were counted out by Refbot, and Kronic the Wedgehog went through to the next round with The Kraken. Kronic the Wedgehog then faced a seemingly easy battle in Robot Wars veterans Mighty Mouse, in the second round as if it won, it would then meet Thermidor 2 in another encounter from their Series 4 matches. Both robots drove at each other to start with, but as Kronic the Wedgehog tried to get its flipper in under Mighty Mouse, Mighty Mouse pushed past Kronic, so Kronic's flip missed, causing most of its spikes to fall off. Mighty Mouse fled, and Kronic chased it. Kronic caught up with Mighty Mouse, but before Kronic could flip it, Mighty Mouse turned and tried to open the pit, but missed. Kronic got under Mighty Mouse and flipped it, but Mighty Mouse landed on its wheels. Mighty Mouse drove away, followed by Kronic, and after driving by the flame pit, Mighty Mouse turned to fight Kronic. It charged at Kronic, but drove up the side, allowing Kronic to turn, get the flipper under it and toss it against the wall with the flipper. Mighty Mouse landed on its wheels again, and fled. Might Mouse drove into the arena wall, but still managed to dodge Kronic for a while as it was being chased. Mighty Mouse rammed into Kronic's front, driving away before its opponent could flip, continued to dodge, then accidentally turned into Kronic. However, Kronic was at the wrong angle, so its flip missed, and Mighty Mouse drove away. Mighty Mouse drove into Refbot, then reversed past Kronic and straight to Growler. Mighty Mouse escaped the House Robot before it could attack, and hit the pit release tire, knocking it off, and drove into an empty CPZ. Kronic caught up and tried to flip Mighty Mouse, but Mighty Mouse dodged each flip. However, in a sudden turn of events, Kronic hit the side wall, and Mighty Mouse rammed it into Growler's CPZ, where it was wedged against the wall and immobilised. It was counted out and attacked by the House Robots, being pushed up the arena by Growler, and hammered by Mr. Psycho. The huge house robot drove up Kronic's wedge just before cease was called. Results |} |} |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 4 *Losses: 4 Series Record KronicInsides.jpg|The insides of Kronic the Wedgehog in Series 4 Kronic_garage.jpg|Kronic the Wedgehog in Dave Lang's garage Kronicpits_Series5.png|Kronic 2 in the pits at Series 5 Kronic2nodecoration.jpg|Kronic 2 on display without decorative panels kronic 2 pits.jpg|Kronic 2 in the pits during Series 6 KronicInsidesS7.jpg|The insides of Kronic the Wedgehog in Series 7 Outside Robot Wars File:KronicNoShell.png|Kronic 2 without its armour at a live event Kronic the Wedgehog 2.jpg|Kronic 3 Weed.png|Weed, Team Kronic's featherweight Apollo and Chronic.jpg|Comparison of Kronic and Apollo Kronic has become far more successful in recent years. Competing in the live circuits, and being renamed Kronic 3, its flipper was modified to be the length of the entire front wedge, and is now capable of throwing robots from the arena at height, doing so to other famous competitors such as Behemoth, Big Nipper and Iron-Awe. It won the Roaming Robots Winter Tour of 2005. In May 2010, the robot was sold to Team MAD as Team Kronic retired from building and operating heavyweight robots. Under their new team, Kronic became the 2010 and 2011 Annihilator Champion, which enabled it to become the second machine in history to reclaim the UK Annihilator title after Kan-Opener. Kronic's final appearance was at the 2014 FRA UK Championships, where it reached the quarter-finals; after this, it was retired from robot combat, and succeeded by Apollo in future Robots Live! events. Following its retirement, Kronic was rebuilt by Team Mad as [http://battlebots.wikia.com/wiki/Chronic Chronic] for ABC's BattleBots reboot. Changes from the original robot included a 'launcher' that was powered by nitrogen instead of CO2 in accordance with the new rules, as well as more armour. Chronic was selected as a reserve, but was not needed to replace any competitors. As a test for the production crew, Chronic fought and lost to fellow reserve robot Swamp Thing in the very first fight in the new BattleBox. Although it started off well, getting some good flips in and breaking off Swamp Thing's thwacking tail, Chronic's drive failed towards the end and it was counted out. Chronic was also due to compete in a nine-robot rumble at the end of the series, but due to time restraints in filming, it never took place. Robot Wars Live Events The latest version of Kronic 3 made two appearances at the Robot Wars live events. Its first appearance was at Barnsley in February 2013 where it reached the final of the main competition losing to Maelstrom when it was immobilised unable to self-right in the last ten seconds of the fight. Its second Robot Wars live event was at Widnes 2013 where it reached the semi-final of the competition and was beaten by Maelstrom again. Trivia *In Series 7, the team carried a model of Kronic the Wedgehog in the pits and the control booth, and showed it to Craig Charles in the post-Round 2 interview. *Like Wedgehog, Kronic the Wedgehog's name was based on Hedgehog (although Kronic's name was based on the Sonic the Hedgehog games). Coincidentally, both the former and the latter are currently owned by Team MAD. **Although the two robots were originally from separate teams, they are mistakenly credited as being from the same team in Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide. ***Kronic would not be the last robot to derive its name from Sonic the Hedgehog, as 2016 competitor Foxic would also base its name on the series. *Throughout its appearances, a banner saying "I Heart Beer" was on the back of Kronic, this being a pun on the team's home village and the alcoholic beverage. *Despite competing in four series, Kronic the Wedgehog never took part in any side competitions or series of Robot Wars Extreme. *The only House Robot which never shared the arena with Kronic the Wedgehog was Cassius Chrome. *In March 2012, Kronic broke Gravity's Robot Wars record for the quickest battle in all FRA competitions by throwing Iron-Awe 6 out of the arena in 4 seconds. *Both of Kronic the Wedgehog's odd-numbered appearances were in an episode where the seeded robot won the heat and both of its even-numbered appearance were in an episode where an unseeded robot won the heat. **In both of the heats that were won by an unseeded robot, Kronic the Wedgehog was in the same heat as Panic Attack. However, in the Series 4 heat, Panic Attack only appeared in the Sumo Basho. *Kronic the Wedgehog's appearance in Series 5 was the only time it was not in the same episode as Thermidor 2 or Panic Attack or both. *Both of Kronic the Wedgehog's losses where it was named Kronic 2 saw it get pushed into Sgt Bash. *In 2011, Kronic received an Honorable Mention in The Combat Robot Hall of Fame, as a result of its successes in live events held during Robot Wars' hiatus.http://runamok.tech/hall_of_fame.html References External Links *Team Kronic website (archived) Category:UK Series competitors Category:Robots from Devon Category:Robots with alternate versions Category:Robots Profiled in the Ultimate Guide Category:Robots with puns for names Category:Honourable Mentions in The Combat Robot Hall of Fame Category:UK Champions since Robot Wars Category:Competitors in Robot Wars Live Events Category:Robots to defeat a seed Category:Robots to appear in Battle Cards Pack 1 Category:Robots with names based on film and television Category:UK Heat Finalists Category:Robots which outlasted three others in a 4-way melee Category:Animal Based Robots Category:Robots with an equal amount of Wins and Losses Category:UK Annihilator winners since Robot Wars Category:UK Tag Team winners since Robot Wars Category:Robots with names based on video games Category:Robots with Rear-hinged Flippers Category:Robots with Front-hinged Flippers Category:Robots which debuted in Series 4 Category:Robots with cameo appearances in Extreme Warriors Season 1 Category:Robots with Mascots